Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
I am thinking of using a set of Campy NR hubs I have laying around as I know they were used on touring bikes in the 70's. Everything is vintage, but I don't want problems out in the middle of nowhere! I figure the hubs and der. will give the most trouble down the road.
I assume you are talking about touring on a steel frame bike with 120 or 126mm rear dropouts.
If the frame was steel and had 126mm dropouts, you should be able to put a modern freehub type hub with cassette into the frame if you used a 130mm road hub. You just have to pull the stays out a bit to drop the wheel into the frame.
My rando bike is a modern (I bought it new in 2016) frame that had 130mm rear dropouts, but I am using an old 135mm wheel in it that I already had. I just have to pull the stays out a bit to put the wheel in. I also have a 1961 Italian bike with 120mm dropouts and I am using some 1980s vintage 126mm wheels in that frame, again I just have to pull the stays apart to drop the wheel in.
But if your frame is 120mm spacing, it would be harder to drop a modern 130mm hub into it. Others that have cold set frames would have better knowledge on this than me.